Asymmetric Getter/Setter Synchronization

ID

java.getters_setters_sync_pairs

Severity

high

Remediation Complexity

trivial

Remediation Risk

medium

Remediation Effort

low

Resource

Reliability

Language

Java

Tags

reliability

Description

Within one type, reports a getter/setter pair for the same property where exactly one side is synchronized. Synchronized means either the synchronized modifier on the method, or a synchronized block anywhere in the method’s body — a block that wraps only part of the body still counts, matching how the two sides are meant to be equivalent.

Both sides synchronized, or neither, is compliant. A static accessor is never paired with an instance accessor of the same name, and a pair split across a class hierarchy is not matched — only accessors declared in the same type are compared.

Rationale

Callers rely on a getter/setter pair being atomic together: if the setter is synchronized but the getter is not, a reader can observe a value mid-update, and the inconsistency only shows up under concurrent load.

public synchronized void setBalance(double balance) {
  this.balance = balance;
}

public double getBalance() { // reads without the lock the setter uses
  return this.balance;
}

Remediation

Synchronize both sides, either with the synchronized modifier or with a synchronized block guarding the whole read or write:

public synchronized void setBalance(double balance) {
  this.balance = balance;
}

public synchronized double getBalance() {
  return this.balance;
}

References

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